Richard A. Planer remembered for Syracuse parks innovations

Syracuse, NY – Syracuse residents who go Dancing Under the Stars or attend a concert of the Stan Colella All Star Band may want to give silent tribute to Richard A. Planer.

Planer, who died May 28 at age 80 from complications from a car accident, oversaw the start of both the summertime dance program and the precursor to the city youth dance band among other innovations some 40 years ago during his tenure as Syracuse parks commissioner.

“That department was always buzzing,” said former city councilor and mayoral candidate Joe Nicoletti, who was Planer’s administrative assistant. “You never had a chance to sit down over there.”

Planer was 36 in 1968 when he became the youngest person ever to be elected chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. Syracuse elected Lee Alexander to his first term as mayor the next year. Planer became parks commissioner in January 1970 when Alexander took office,

Nicoletti said Planer was a driving force in creating mobile recreation units – pools, puppet shows and game wagons -- that would to to neighborhoods whose parks were unstaffed or had no parks or playgrounds.

Dancing Under the Stars, a Friday night big-band dance party that Planer inaugurated at Sunnycrest Rink, proved so popular with adults that police and parks personnel had to direct traffic, Nicoletti said.

The All Star High School Band launched under Planer’s tenure provided entertainment for resident and jobs for young musicians, Nicoletti said. It’s now called the Stan Colella All Star Band.

Planer left the parks department in 1974 to become Rochester’s park commissioner. The following year he was a contender for the Democratic nomination for Onondaga County executive but dropped out. He ran unsuccessfully for county legislature in 1981.

He got of of politics in the mid 1980s, running the Downtown Flower Market and eventually driving buses for the West Genesee School District. Pat Driscoll, a successor to Planer as parks commissioner, and Pat Hogan, a former deputy commissioner, both said Planer remained a passionate advocate whose advice they welcomed.

Planer had taken a Bahamas cruise, returned to port in New Jersey and was driving home May 19 on U.S. Route 11 when his van went off the road in LaFayette, said his nephew, Charles K. Planer Jr. He told the family he didn’t know whether he fell asleep or swerved to avoid a deer. He was discharged into rehab but a turn for the worse and died at Upstate University Hospital.